NetHui South shaping up to be *the* Internet event in South Island

The South Island version of New Zealand’s favourite Internet event will be held at the University of Canterbury later this month and features keynote speeches from Professor Tim Bell, recent winner of the IITP President’s Award for Contribution to the IT Profession, and from ICT Minister and local MP, Amy Adams.

On top of that, there will be panels featuring Neil Sanson from the Privacy Commission and the fantastically bearded Blair McBride from Mozilla as they discuss privacy and security on the Internet. There will also be a panel discussing the Canterbury region’s hopes and dreams for its future IT environment featuring Christchurch City Council’s Raf Manji and Tom McBrearty from Enterprise North Canterbury.

Host organisation InternetNZ’s CEO Jordan Carter says this year’s NetHui South promises to be a fascinating and entertaining few days.

“With Open Data Day happening on day zero and then the NetHui programme on days one and two there is a plethora of interesting sessions, panels and keynotes to tempt anyone who has an interest in anything to do with the Internet.”

“NetHui really is a community event, so obviously there are a number of community oriented sessions, including discussions about online accessibility, women in tech and turning schools paperless,” said Mr Carter.

“The really great thing about NetHui is that it’s not a conference where attendees go and listen to a series of speakers, but it’s a participatory event where we encourage discussion and want anyone who is enthusiastic to take part.

“We couldn’t put NetHui on without the help of our community supporters as well as the contributions from our sponsors – Enable Networks, Land Information NZ, Mozilla and Catalyst so far. It is through organisations like these we’re able to keep the ticket price at a very affordable $40.”